Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by Lancer »

sorry meant ultimate edition. I checked today and it was up on bb site disc version.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by DChaps »

It seems like there may have been an update to the FH3 Demo last night, although I have not seen confirmation from Turn 10 in the forums. It made me start over from the beginning, re-doing the intro, etc. and once in game the feel with my TX wheel was definitely improved from the first night with the demo. I could actually feel the road and a difference between the cars. Felt closer to FH2, which I liked. I agree that even with all assists off, the physics model has been too dumbed down. The visuals in this game are pretty amazing. I spent a lot of time just playing around with the drone mode.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by Lancer »

Big fan of the horizon series and finally tried the demo out today. Was a bit underwhelmed. Not sure why. Maybe it's why its a demo. Went back to FH2 to compare and still love everything about FH2.

For the Ultimate edition , will they continue to sell it after launch day? I may hold off now and wait for a price cut.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by pk500 »

I put another hour into this demo last night, hoping to find something I missed during my lukewarm first impressions.

Man, I want to love this demo. The graphics are eye-jizzingly beautiful. The prettiest game I've seen on the XB1. The vibe is fantastic. Great music, great colors, cool attitude, excellent car selection. The open world surfaces are fun, with a nice mixture of asphalt, gravel and sand.

But the driving model. Ugh. Turn 10, why have you taken the Need For Speed fork in the road? This game is just too damn easy to drive. You barely need to tap the brake through corners. My right index finger started to hurt last night because it was slamming the trigger on my controller to the plastic for nearly the entire game.

I thought maybe there were a few assists turned on in the demo by default. There were. So I turned every assist off, and this game still is far too easy to drive.

Forza Horizon 3 doesn't need to be Project Cars or iRacing. It's not supposed to be. But the relaxed sim-cade driving model of FH 1 and FH 2 - especially the more balanced hybrid model of FH 1's handling - was sublime.

But FH 3 is just too damn arcade for my liking. I just can't justify spending full price on a game that fails at its core - driving - despite so many other positives, especially the graphics.

Think of your favorite supermodel or SI swimsuit model, and that's FH 3. Good Lord, it's GORGEOUS. If only it drove that way, even within the loose context of a sim-cade driving model.

Your mileage may vary. I'm stoked for those who are purchasing this game at launch and will most definitely enjoy it. Drive it like you stole it!
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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by DChaps »

I have never done this before, and I have no idea how to setup the standard Xbox One controller headset/mic to make it work correctly, but I am going to live twitch stream Forza Horizon 3 at https://www.twitch.tv/dchaps66 in the next 30 minutes or so, or whenever it finally gives me access to the full early release.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by fsquid »

I skipped Horizon 2, maybe I should pick that up

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by TCrouch »

The plugin wouldn't load for me last night, Don, but I'm watching your archive of your stream last night. You questioned whether or not you could be heard...audio quality for voice is very good, FWIW.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by dbdynsty25 »

TCrouch wrote:The plugin wouldn't load for me last night, Don, but I'm watching your archive of your stream last night. You questioned whether or not you could be heard...audio quality for voice is very good, FWIW.
Yeah I popped in for about 30 seconds to just see if it was up, and I heard you fine as well. Game sure does look awesome...should have mine this afternoon sometime.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by fletcher21 »

The Forza series is one of the only xB exclusives I really miss out on by having a ps4 only. Forza is even better to me than the GT series. Too bad ps4 really doesnt have something even close to Forza.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by Rodster »

fletcher21 wrote:The Forza series is one of the only xB exclusives I really miss out on by having a ps4 only. Forza is even better to me than the GT series. Too bad ps4 really doesnt have something even close to Forza.
Does it even have the GT series anymore? Instead of GT 7, all the talk was about GT Sport and even that was delayed. No reason to have only one console these days.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

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dbdynsty25 wrote:
TCrouch wrote:The plugin wouldn't load for me last night, Don, but I'm watching your archive of your stream last night. You questioned whether or not you could be heard...audio quality for voice is very good, FWIW.
Yeah I popped in for about 30 seconds to just see if it was up, and I heard you fine as well. Game sure does look awesome...should have mine this afternoon sometime.
30 seconds was probably about the right about of time to stay on and listen. I was even boring myself. :) I may be the worst twitch commentator of all time.

It did seem like force feedback and control with the Thrustmaster TX wheel had been improved from the demo, which is what Brian Ekberg from Turn 10 had reported in the forums, However, the super cars still felt light and floaty compared to the off road vehicles. I was definitely having a challenge beating the AI, and I actually did have to use my brakes on more than one occasion. Unfortunately, last night I was locked out of all the things that I wanted to check out. Storefront/Auction House, Co-Op Career Mode, Downloaded Tunes, Cars/Garage, Paints, etc. Since I purchased the Ultimate Bundle, have Tier 9 Forza Rewards, and played Halo Masterchief Collection, I should have had a boatload of cars waiting for me in my garage, but all I have to date is one. Not sure what is going on there. I also don't think I had progressed enough to get to try out the Horizon Blueprint functionality which I am hoping is going to allow us to create our own little DSP challenges in game. This is probably the one thing I am most interested in with FH3, but I hope it does not turn out to be like the Leagues in Forza 6, which was a feature I was excited about that proved to be a big let down overall. From the IGN review:
The functionality is dubbed Horizon Blueprint and lets us select the time of day, the weather, the competition, and even the name of the race itself. It’s brilliant, and means every event can be raced in dozens and dozens of different ways under a whole range of conditions. Completing your own or your friends’ Blueprint events will net you the same rewards you’d earn for opting for the “official” events Playground has baked in. You can even create your own Bucket List challenges – the one-off, themed events introduced in Horizon 2 – starting at predetermined points in the world.
As of right now, it does feel very been there done that, but I am in awe of the visuals and sound in this game. I also do think that overall the locals and terrain is the most varied in the series. Surfers Paradise is very cool to drive around in. I kept hoping to see some V8 Supercars or Indycars racing there. The IGN review sums up the visuals and varied terrain nicely:
Its greatest strength is probably the sheer variety of landscapes, though. Horizon 3 remains dwarfed by the likes of The Crew’s impressively large map, but it packs a pile of vastly different terrains into its Australian backdrop. There’s a quiet coastal town, with its picturesque beaches, and the rolling fields between it and the high-rise, urban metropolis of Surfers Paradise. There’s the damp and dense rainforest carpeted with thick undergrowth around closely packed trees. There’s also rural wine country that gives way to the sparse red dust and isolated farms of the outback. If anything, Horizon 3’s outback zone isn’t really big enough to communicate the sheer vastness of the real thing that I’d yearned for (shelve your hopes of any arrow-straight highways disappearing over the, er, horizon) but it’s nonetheless a noticeable improvement over Horizon 2 where all four corners of the map felt largely similar to each other.
Will hopefully get some more time in tonight.

IGN Review: 9.5
http://www.ign.com/articles/2016/09/20/ ... n-3-review

Polygon Review: 8.5
http://www.polygon.com/2016/9/20/129849 ... n-3-review

Gamespot: 9.0
http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/forza-h ... 0-6416521/

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by TCrouch »

Yeah, I was hoping to hop in and join you for career mode, but everything was locked out at the time.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by TCrouch »

So, fired it up on PC.

Good news: 3440x1440 is actually supported properly, unlike something like ReCore...where they SAID it supported UWHD, but in reality you could set the resolution and it would just play at 2560x1440 right in the center, with black bars on the side.

Thankfully, this doesn'd do that. It's true 3440x1440 @ 100Hz.

The bad news: I have absolutely no force feedback. Just a completely loose wheel, and it likely has to do with detection--because it says it's a wheel, yet I have no wheel rotation angle option.

Take the same wheel and plug it into XBox, on the same settings, full force feedback and I have the rotation angle. So I played for another 45 minutes or so there, but I'll have to see if it's a compatibility issue with the Fanatec XBox One Universal Hub or what. I have their BMW GT2 rim coming next week (got sick of some PC compatibility issues with the hub, so I got the Native PC version for the CS2 base), so that'll tell me definitively.

But as of now, no way to play it on PC with my wheel and FF.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

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Rodster wrote:
fletcher21 wrote:The Forza series is one of the only xB exclusives I really miss out on by having a ps4 only. Forza is even better to me than the GT series. Too bad ps4 really doesnt have something even close to Forza.
Does it even have the GT series anymore? Instead of GT 7, all the talk was about GT Sport and even that was delayed. No reason to have only one console these days.
In terms of multiplatform games, the ps4 holds its own or is superior to the xb1. Literally the only game I'm missing out on is Forza, and that's not worth another console to me. I've given up on seeing a new gran Turismo also.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by TCrouch »

Solved my force feedback issue, and it's the weirdest fix ever....don't put the wheel into PC mode. So as far as Windows knows, I have no controller connected (the wheel is in "XBox"mode, connected to the PC, and doesn't show as a connected device.

Go into the game, and it works. Go figure.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by Lancer »

Looks like the Ultimate Edition with the VIP pass does not provide you with all DLC for the future. What a crock - If I'm paying $100 for a game I expect to have everything included.

I'll pass on Ultimate Edition and go with the Standard Edition once it's on sale.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

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Ugh...as hyped as I was for this game it's entirely disappointing, overall. Now, granted, I still want to play it, it's still a great game, it's just another Storm Island expansion for Horizon 2...this is NOT a full purchase game IMO. And I'm the biggest Horizon fan around.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

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dbdynsty25 wrote:Ugh...as hyped as I was for this game it's entirely disappointing, overall. Now, granted, I still want to play it, it's still a great game, it's just another Storm Island expansion for Horizon 2...this is NOT a full purchase game IMO. And I'm the biggest Horizon fan around.
Haven't totally decided if I'll purchase this on Tuesday or not. I'm overwhelmed with playing Madden and NBA 2K17, and am enjoying my 10 hour trial with NHL 17. Plus, still deciding between FIFA and PES. May wait until one of those B2G1 deals that comes around in October or November. I love the Horizon series but the sheer size of the game makes me want to wait for some reason. Maybe because I know this game will be around for a long long time.

Thanks for your early thoughts.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

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dbdynsty25 wrote:Ugh...as hyped as I was for this game it's entirely disappointing, overall. Now, granted, I still want to play it, it's still a great game, it's just another Storm Island expansion for Horizon 2...this is NOT a full purchase game IMO. And I'm the biggest Horizon fan around.
Exact feeling I got from the demo. Gorgeous. Otherwise, just more of the same. And Horizon 2 bored me quickly, so I needed something fresh from Horizon 3, which it didn't provide in the demo. The driving physics definitely are dumbed down from simcade to pure arcade in the Horizon 3 demo, too. No bueno.

This game could be a $25-30 Black Friday purchase for me because it's so damn beautiful. Otherwise, I'll pass. Too much fun still to be had with my driving game lineup of DIRT Rally, F1 2016 and Forza 6, not to mention Madden 17, FIFA 17, NBA 2K17 and the upcoming Battlefield 1, Dishonored 2 and Titanfall 2.

Something's got to give for the sake of my money clip, and Microsoft has made that choice a bit easier with Horizon 3.
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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

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pk500 wrote:
dbdynsty25 wrote:Ugh...as hyped as I was for this game it's entirely disappointing, overall. Now, granted, I still want to play it, it's still a great game, it's just another Storm Island expansion for Horizon 2...this is NOT a full purchase game IMO. And I'm the biggest Horizon fan around.
Exact feeling I got from the demo. Gorgeous. Otherwise, just more of the same. And Horizon 2 bored me quickly, so I needed something fresh from Horizon 3, which it didn't provide in the demo. The driving physics definitely are dumbed down from simcade to pure arcade in the Horizon 3 demo, too. No bueno.

This game could be a $25-30 Black Friday purchase for me because it's so damn beautiful. Otherwise, I'll pass. Too much fun still to be had with my driving game lineup of DIRT Rally, F1 2016 and Forza 6, not to mention Madden 17, FIFA 17, NBA 2K17 and the upcoming Battlefield 1, Dishonored 2 and Titanfall 2.

Something's got to give for the sake of my money clip, and Microsoft has made that choice a bit easier with Horizon 3.
It's definitely NOT because it's a bad game or anything. It's a phenomenal game...but anyone who's played FH2 for any legitimate amount of time should wait until it drops in price if there is any question. It literally feels like an expansion. Paying 85 bucks (amazon prime discount) for the ultimate version was a really dumb decision, but alas what's done is done. I'm sure I'll still get my monies worth out of it because I was still playing FH2 up until about 2 weeks ago and only stopped in preparation for FH3. I purposely didn't play the demo because I wanted to form my opinion on the full version, but I guess I learned my lesson on that one.

I don't really have the complaints about the handling model that PK does - as FH has never been ultra realistic. As long as the cars feel a bit different and there is a good variety, I'm perfectly happy w/ the handling model. If I want to drive for real I've got games for that. I absolutely love driving the trophy trucks, as it's my favorite type of RC car to drive w/ my son as well. Those things are beasts!

Anyway, if you haven't purchased FH2, or only played it a little bit, then absolutely FH3 is an awesome game. It's just an expansion on FH2...quite literally.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by TCrouch »

I quite enjoy it once I set it to manual w/ clutch and turned all the assists off. It's not simulation, but it's got a predictable driving model that I enjoy. Forza has always had that "push understeer to simulate too much aggression", and FH3 is no different. It's simple to adjust to, but it's definitely weird.

What kills me is that no matter what I play on, there are drawbacks.

On XBox One, it looks worse than the PC version, and runs much worse. Locked at 30FPS is something I've never liked, and it's even more noticeable now.

But at least on the XBox One, the VIP pass works, and my wheel works fine.

On PC, it looks great in 3440x1440 at greater than 60FPS on Ultra settings, and that extra bit of wide screen helps a ton in cockpit mode. But when on PC, it doesn't seem to properly detect any PC wheel as force feedback. My Fanatec Clubsport didn't have FF using the XBox One Universal Hub, and then I connected the BMW GT2 PC rim to see if it was an issue with the hub itself. Nope, still no FF.

If I connect that XBox One hub to it and leave it in Xbox Mode, so the PC itself doesn't see it? Force Feedback, and it's quite good. But on PC the VIP pass doesn't work. Also, the XBox One hub has oddly-mapped buttons on PC, so none of the buttons are where they are supposed to be.

So either I play on PC, where it's pretty but don't have the 100% credit boost with VIP, with a wheel that has buttons in the wrong places, or I play on XBox, where the framerate is trash and it's tough to see into the distance.

Either way pretty much sucks.

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by Aristo »

I don't think DB is wrong at all. What it feels like to me is FH2 + Storm Island in one package. But with a new set of boards and barns to find, I will play this now, even though I had mostly moved on from FH2. It does also look fantastic, and the setting is better than FH2.

I don't think it is a terrible value, but it is not the leap forward FH2 was. But if folks are playing it on an HDR compatible TV, want to enjoy it on PC, or just want to have a better chance for some multiplayer, it's still the go to version of Forizon right now.

So I can see some people preferring to wait, but I think those jumping in are going to get what they want. The demo was pretty fair.
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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by sportdan30 »

I'm weak. I've decided I'm going to purchase this game today using the BB GU discount. Sim racing just isn't my cup of tea, and I just need that free roam with some arcade style racing mixed in. It'll satisfy my racing fix. 8)

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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by Wilk5280 »

I know it's a lot more of the same, but I REALLY like the Australian backdrop for this one and am having an absolute blast. No buyers remorse here at all.
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Re: Forza Horizon 3 demo impressions

Post by dbdynsty25 »

Wilk5280 wrote:I know it's a lot more of the same, but I REALLY like the Australian backdrop for this one and am having an absolute blast. No buyers remorse here at all.
Certainly not remorseful...in fact, I can't put it down. So even though it is more of the same, you're right. It's different enough to warrant a purchase...just don't think it was worth the 85 (or 100) for the Ultimate version.

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